Fear grips Sri Lanka's southern villages- paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 03:22 GMT]"Villages bordering the Yala sanctuary had been living on the edge since 15 October," reported a Colombo daily, after the Liberation Tigers overran the Thalgasmankada Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unit killing six troopers and injuring many. In the last three weeks, three had gone missing, and bodies of five cattle-herders have been found with cut injuries in Thissemaharama division situated in the constituency of the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Refering to the spate of recent killings, UNP Hambantota District MP Sajith Premadasa said "a serious situation had arisen in Tissamaharama and other surrounding areas." He added that "the crisis started with the attack on Yala where 6 soldiers were killed on October 15...a series of incidents had taken place since then," Colombo daily 'Daily Mirror' reported.

Mr. Premadasa said three people identified as A. P. Sisira Kumara, A. P. Ajith Kumara and Sarath Abeydheera who were abducted on October 29 were still reported missing, according to the paper.

Tissamaharama is located in the south of Sri Lanka, adjacent to Yala, the country's main wildlife park. Sri Lanka Travel guide lists Tissamaharama as a small town, located about 40km (25 miles) north east of Hambantota, and a convenient jumping-off point for Ruhuna National Park, to the east, and the Kataragama temple complex.